$1,250,000 Settlement
Motor vehicle accident - single-vehicle rollover (passenger)
Motor vehicle accident
single-vehicle rollover (passenger)
Supreme Court
State of New York, New York County
Settlement
$1,250,000 (full policy limits)
Jonathan S. Wachlarz, Esq.
Shulman & Hill
The Case
The plaintiff was a rear-seat passenger in a vehicle traveling on the Henry Hudson Parkway when the front-seat passenger distracted the driver with an Instagram post, causing the vehicle to strike a divider and overturn onto its side. The plaintiff had to be extracted through the roof of the vehicle by the FDNY. He sustained serious injuries including a comminuted fracture of the left shoulder, transverse process fractures at L1 through L4, a fracture of the right 12th rib, and a left hip tear. He also underwent laparoscopic abdominal surgery after trace amounts of blood were found in his abdomen.
The Challenge
The plaintiff was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, while the driver and front-seat passenger, both belted, were uninjured. This gave the defense a significant comparative-fault argument that his injuries were caused or substantially worsened by his own failure to buckle up.
The Result
Despite the seatbelt defense, plaintiff's counsel secured a tender of the entire available insurance policy, a full-limits recovery of $1,250,000, before the defendant driver was even deposed. Obtaining every available dollar of coverage at such an early stage of litigation, without protracted discovery and in the face of a defense that could have substantially reduced any jury award, represents a maximum result for the client.
Any results set forth herein are based upon the facts of that particular case and do not represent a promise or guarantee.